


Hidden Eyes

by Caliske_XP



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Humor, M/M, Romance, Stalking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 15:11:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13033809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caliske_XP/pseuds/Caliske_XP
Summary: Burning eyes on your back. The feeling someone is watching you.That's the feeling Niall has had for three months now. Everywhere he goes he can feel someone watching him, but when he searches for that person, he doesn't see anyone.One day, a new student arrives at Niall's school. The stranger is in the same class as him and everything seems normal about the new kid. That's until he looks at Niall and Niall get's the familiar feeling... Eyes boring into his back."Being with him made me change. I don't want to be the way I am anymore."





	1. Prologue ~ Darkness

** Prologue ~ Darkness **

**_~June 25, 2017~_ **

It all starts when Niall opens his curtains on this grey morning in June. It’s raining hard and a strong wind goes through the trees behind his house where he still lives with his mother at the edge of the city. In the distance, he can hear the rumbling sound of thunder. But that isn't everything. There is the vague and unsettling feeling of eyes watching him. He can feel them watching his every move, but when he looks around the backyard and the line of trees, he sees nothing out of ordinary. Not even a bird would be out in this weather.

So, Niall just decides to shrug it off. He is still half asleep anyway, barely able to open his eyes or get his brain to fully function. He walks downstairs and prepares himself for school. The school year is almost over and then Niall will finally be free for two nice summer months. Exams ended last week and now all he had to do was go to school to pick up his grades and discuss them with the professor. University has not been easy for Niall, but he is in his second year and determined to make it through. He is majoring in history and literature, subjects that really interest him. And apparently also subjects not many students had chosen. There were only about thirty people in his class this year. Everyone knows each other and some of them are great friends of his.

The day carries on slowly and the feeling of being watched hasn’t disappeared yet. It had made Niall nervous all through the day. He had been twitchy, letting his eyes roam over his surroundings every few minutes. It is almost as if he doesn't have any privacy anymore and Niall hates it.

After his meeting with his professor, Niall is dragged to the club by his closest friend to celebrate the end of the school year. He guesses his good grades can count as a reason to celebrate too. The Irishman is responsible though. He still has to drive home at the end of the evening because he had driven there by himself. The car he owns is more of a joke than a real car. It’s old, almost completely broken. If he is lucky, Niall will be able to make it to the end of the year before he has to buy a new one. He has been saving for a while now, picking up jobs here and there when he has the time.

It’s been dark for a long time when Niall finally says goodbye to his friends and heads home. The blond yawns as soon as he gets on the road. The shortest way home would be through the woods that separated his house from the city, but that would also mean that the road would be scary and dark at this time. Niall quickly makes the decision and turns the wheel for the shortcut. He has been drinking a bit after all, so the sooner he reaches home, the safer it will be.

Three minutes later, Niall curses himself for taking the shortcut. He is in the middle of the woods, alone in the dark, with a broken down car. What was he thinking? How could he believe this was the safest option? “Fuck!” He hits the steering wheel after once again trying to start the car up again to no avail.

He is surrounded by a thick darkness, not seeing anything. He wishes at least the headlights would work. It would settle his nerves, but no such luck. It’s the feeling that is getting to him. What if he has been watched all day? What if his car was sabotaged and the person watching him will kill him now?

“Don’t think like that, Horan.” He speaks to himself, trying to ease the fear away. “One more time.” Niall twists the key in the ignition one more time. The car splutters to life, only to fall silent again a second later. Niall sighs and drops his forehead against the cold surface of the steering wheel.

Niall takes a deep breath. “You can do this. You will be just fine.” From the glove compartment, he takes a flashlight and flicks it on when he steps out of his rickety car. Immediately the sounds of the woods hit him. There are insects for sure, and he thinks he can hear an owl too. The small breeze makes the leaves of the bushes and trees rustle. It makes Goosebumps spread over his skin.

“Come on, Horan. Don’t be a coward.” He whispers to himself and tries to turn a blind eye to the dark trees. He opens the hood to reveal the engine of the car and shines the flashlight on it. “What is it this time?”

Something brushes against his leg. Niall jumps and hits his head on the hood. He sucks in a sharp breath as he watches something with a furry red tail disappear behind one of the trees.

“Just a fox.” He mutters and laughs loudly. “Just a fox, because there are animals in a forest, of course, you stupid.” He knows it’s the fear that is making him talk to himself like that, so he quickly shuts up again. He is still breathing fast, his heart beating a bit louder in his chest.

Niall focusses back on the engine in front of him. He hums and smiles suddenly when he finally sees the problem. One of the smaller cables came loose. Niall plugs it in again and gets out from under the hood, which he closes. “And now home.”

A branch snaps loudly somewhere right behind him and Niall feels his heart leap in his chest once again in fear. As soon as he starts to turn towards the noise, the light of the flashlight fades away. “No, no, no. Don’t give up now.” He pleads the thing with wide eyes and tries shaking it. His phone is still inside the car, so he won’t be able to use it as a source of light.

Niall is all alone on the dark now. The only sound he hears is the sharp intakes of breath he is taking. The insects and owl seem to have disappeared, sending more terror through his body. He is shivering all over as he looks around, only seeing the faint contours of the trees around him.

Another branch snaps. This time, the sound came from closer by. Niall’s eyes widen more, his heart speeds up in his chest.

“Who is there?” He yells through the air, trying to sound brave, but his voice is breaking. No one answers. “Just another animal.” He mutters and pushes himself to unfreeze and move towards the driver seat once again. His hand only just touched the door handle when he freezes again.

He hears footsteps right behind him, stopping there and Niall can swear he can feel the presence behind him.

Then the warm breath hits his neck and he can’t keep himself from shivering. He feels it moves over his neck towards his ear, where it finally speaks in a dark whisper.

“Niall.”

That seems to do it for the blond. In one movement he tries to hit the person standing behind him with his flashlight while his other hand pulls open the car door. The flashlight meets nothing but air, but Niall doesn’t bring himself to care as he throws himself into the seat and slams the door shut. He prays the car won’t fail him now and almost cries in happiness when the engine keeps humming this time.

Niall slams his foot down on the gas and drives away as fast as possible.

“What the fuck was that?” Is the question running through his mind all the way home.

 


	2. Chapter 1 ~ A New Student

** Chapter 1 ~ The new student **

**_~September 25, 2017~_ **

It’s been three months since the horrific night in the woods and still Niall hasn’t been able to come up with a good explanation. He had seen no one when he drove away, though clearly, the person to which the voice belonged had been standing right behind him and couldn’t have gone far. It couldn’t have been the wind. He is sure there was not even a breeze when it happened and his name had been pronounced very clearly. Niall even considered the fact that he is going mad. The events in the woods have no reasonable explanation, nor does the feeling of someone staring at him. It’s still there, every hour of the day.

Though nothing else like that had happened in summer. No disembodied voices had spoken to him, there had been no warm breath in his neck and his car hadn’t broken down anymore, so Niall just shrugs it off and ignores the uncomfortable feeling that comes along with it most of the day. The darkness always brings back the memories of three months ago and the Goosebumps he had that day. Even thinking about it today has him scared.

What if someone will attack him soon? What if they attack his mother too? These questions keep running through his mind before he goes to bed, but he consoles himself with the thought that if someone wants to hurt him or his mother, they would have done it a long time ago. There had been more than enough opportunities for that.

Niall opens his curtains and the sunlight invades his room, making him squint his eyes. The sky is a beautiful blue, predicting a nice day for once. They have had nothing but rainy days in the first week of school.

Throwing a glance at his alarm clock, Niall sees it is 7.00am already and time to get ready for school if he wants to get there in time for his lecture to start. He hates Mondays the most. His entire day is filled with lectures till the very evening. The other days of the week are slower. He actually has time to eat lunch on every day that is not Monday.

He walks to his closet, grabbing the first thing he sees and not really caring if they match or not. He could go in his pyjamas and his fellow students wouldn’t care, nor would his professor, so he settles for the black skinny jeans, white shirt and a plaid shirt he finds. Then he goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth, put contact lenses in and style his hair up messily. By the time he finishes he can already smell the breakfast his mother is preparing. He quickly grabs his bag and runs down the stairs.

“Good morning, mom.” He says and kisses his mother on the cheek.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to run down the stairs?” She asks him, looking at him with a scolding, but fond look. Niall shrugs as he eyes the eggs on the stove. “Here.” His mother hands him a plate with his breakfast. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks. This smells delicious.” He says and sits down at the table to eat.

Niall’s father had left with his older brother seven years ago when he was only twelve. He never really knew what happened and his mother prefers not to speak about it, claiming that Niall is all she will ever need whenever he brings it up. And Niall is content like this, so why would he keep bringing it up. He knows his mother is going out on dates every now and then and he is really happy for her. He too knows that he won’t be staying with her forever and although he is single now, he would love to have a family of his own someday.

“Sweetie?” His mother speaks up after a while, bringing Niall back from where he had been daydreaming, staring at the wall. “Isn’t it almost time to leave for school?” She asks and nods at the clock. Niall gasps when he sees the time.

“Oh, shit! I’m going to be late.” He quickly gets up, throwing his plate in the sink and struggling to get his shoes on, ignoring his mother’s “Language!”.

“I’ll see you this evening, mom. Bye!” He quickly rushes outside without grabbing a coat. Autumn only just started, but the weather is still warm enough for this time of the year.

"Be careful, honey, and much fun in school.” His mother always says that before he leaves and Niall only just catches it before he closes the door, shaking his head fondly as he walks to his car. His new car, since the old one died not a week after the incident in the woods. Luckily it had been daylight and had it happened in front of his house. So, Niall was forced to buy a new one, a decent one that would not break down every other day. Honestly, it has been a relief to drive a car that doesn’t look like it belongs to the dump.

Niall had also very carefully stashed two flashlights in the glove department, just to be sure.

He gets in, slamming the door shut once he got in and putting his seatbelt on. He puts the key in the ignition and freezes.

He doesn’t know how he hadn’t noticed it before, but the feeling is gone. He no longer feels a stare boring into his back and watching his every move. Instead, a new feeling of euphoria at the new experience fills his body.

With a bright smile on his face, Niall backs out of the driveway and makes his way to university.

~*~

“Niall!”

It’s the first thing he hears when he gets out of the car. The blond doesn’t even have time to lift his head before he is enveloped in a tight hug. “I missed you.” Niall chuckles as he hugs his friend back and softly pats his back.

“It’s been three days, Louis.” He says as he breaks the hug and locks his car. “Literally, a weekend.” It makes the blue-eyed lad huff at him.

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you, Niall. You haven’t even sent me a text.”

“Again. It’s only been two days. Besides, you know damn well that if something exciting happened I would have let you know straight away.” He offers his friend a smile, amused by his childlike behaviour. He never regrets befriending Louis Tomlinson. He always finds a way to cheer Niall up.

“I’m still hurt you didn’t text me,” Louis says, keeping up his act and putting his hand over his hard in exaggeration. “You should feel bad.”

“Nice try, mate, but your heart is on the other side.” The blond smirks and swings his back over his shoulder, walking to the building they will have class in.

Louis catches up soon with a pout. "That's completely beside the point." He says.

From the beginning of university, Louis and Niall had been best friends. Three years of playing pranks on each other and others had made them closer than most of their classmates.

After the first year, two more boys had wriggled themselves into their close-friend-group. Harry Styles had fit right in with them, laughing loudly at every joke they make. Liam Payne had been more serious, but laughed with them anyway.

“For fuck’s sake, Lou, you know damn well I missed you too.” Niall eventually says as he holds open the door so they can both enter the building.

“Hmm, damn right, Nialler.” He says as he shoves past the blond. “We are late by the way.”

In the distance, they can both hear the church bells hitting the nine o’clock mark. Niall’s eyes widen. “Professor Williams never lets in students who are late.” He mutters and looks at Louis. Louis grins and shrugs. He darts up the stairs with Niall in his footsteps as they rush to the right room.

“I didn’t even bring my books.” Louis pants as they finally reach classroom 02.28. “You’ll share yours, right?” Niall groans at his friend.

“How did you even get through the first two years?” He asks and pushes the door open, peeping in carefully. “We are in luck, Lou. Looks like our dear prof isn’t here yet.”

The blue-eyed man lets out a breath of relief as they both walk into the empty room and takes his phone from his pocket.

“Where is the rest of the students, though?” Niall wonders out loud and looks at Louis who is swiping away on his phone.

“Probably at home in bed…” He eventually says and hands Niall his phone. “Professor Williams send out a mail yesterday that she is ill and won’t make it to today’s lecture.”

“Are you serious?” Niall groans as he reads over the mail. They went all this way, early in the morning, for nothing.

“Doesn’t matter,” Louis says and drops down on one of the seats. “Gives us some time to catch up, anyway.” He smirks and pats the seat next to him. “I have more than enough stories about the party they threw in my dorm last Saturday.”

So Niall sits down next to him and listens to Louis’ stories for the next two hours, laughing loudly.

~*~

“I want you to read the texts about slavery for next week.” Professor Felton, the American literary history docent, says. “I’ll see you then.” The class erupts in muttering students and rustling of coats and backpacks.

“Dear lord, finally, I am starving,” I mutter as I get up from my seat and follow Louis to the student canteen. “What’s on the… Oh god, yes! Pizza.” Niall almost skips to the queue, not caring if Louis is following or not.

“Pizza it is.” The older lad mumbles and stands next to his friend. They wait for their food, talking about their plans for the next week. Apparently, his university is organising a football match between professors and students. Louis is very enthusiastic about it.

They both pay for their food and walk into the sitting area, already filled with students. “Oh, look!” Niall says and walks to the table where Liam and Harry are sitting, keeping a free seat for both Louis and Niall.

“Hey, lads.” Louis says as he sits down next to Harry and digs in. Niall does the same and greets them with a smile and the words ‘God, I love pizza.”, before digging in too.

"Hi.” They both greet him and Louis and eye Niall wolfing down his lunch.

“It still amazes me how much you can eat in so little time.” Harry speaks up and shakes his head. “Anyway, how was your weekend?” Niall leaves it to Louis to reply and loses interest soon. He had heard the stories this morning already.

“… heard he is hot.”

That gets Niall’s attention. “What?” He asks, finishing his last piece and looking up at Harry who had spoken. Liam lets out a loud laugh.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes and that finally makes you look up?” Louis smirks at him too. “Great, Ni. Subtle.”

Niall huffs, “Seriously, though. What was that about?” He looks at Harry, hoping he will repeat what he had been saying.

“Well, there is a new student in our class. That means he will be in our afternoon classes. I heard some girls talk about him and they said he is really attractive. Now, I can’t give you an honest opinion on that, because I haven’t seen him yet.”

“Awesome.” Niall speaks up. Today must be his lucky day. He wouldn’t mind eyeing the new attractive addition to their small class. Would give him a distraction from the boring lectures.

“What class is next?” Louis speaks up, finishing his lunch too and wiping his hands at the tissue he brought with him.

“Mythology.” Liam says, without looking at the schedule. Of course, he would have studied their schedules by the second week of the semester.

“Ah, thanks, Li.” Niall smiles at him. He knows they all have that class together. All thirty of the students will be in the same room for this one, listening to professor Hens talk about all sorts of myths and mythological figures.

“Lecture starts in ten minutes.” Harry says, checking the time on his phone. “I think we better get going, make sure we have a good spot and all.” He hums, knowing that professor Hens refuses to use the microphone.

So they get, getting rid of their waste before walking to their classroom together. When they arrive, the classroom is half-empty and the docent isn’t there yet. They all sit down next to each other, still talking about their weekends. Niall zones out again, sitting at the edge of the conversation. He wonders what the new student looks like.

The professor comes in then and sighs as he takes out the papers he needs.

“Okay, class.”

The conversations die down and Niall finally gets out his notebook and a pen.

“Today we will be talking about creatures. First…”

Niall looks outside, staring at the passers-by. The professor’s voice fades into the background. He wishes he could be outside right now, instead of here, on the hard wooden seats.

“And who might you be?” The sudden interruption has Niall turning his head again to see what is going on.  There is a guy standing in front of the class, next to the professor. Niall can see him well. It must be the new student, judging of how attractive this man is. He looks like he was made in heaven, not a blemish on his face. Raven-haired, golden brown eyes with long lashes. A smooth tanned skin and it looks like he works out. Not to mention that this guy has style.

Niall bites his lip, eyeing the new student without shame for as long as he can.

“The name is Zayn Malik. I’m new.”

And his voice… Niall suppresses the need to shiver at the tone he can only compare to molten chocolate.

He also can’t help the gasp that escapes him when Harry pokes his side suddenly. Niall glares at him and throws him a questioning look. “What was that for?”

Harry chuckles and shakes his head. “You were staring, Niall. Crushing on him already?” He winks and looks at Zayn.

Blood rushes up to his face at Harry’s words. “Oh, shut up.” He growls quietly, but Harry starts giggling loud enough to catch Louis’ and Liam’s attention. Great, more people that will be pestering him about this later.

When Niall focusses his attention back to the front of the classroom, he is shocked to see that Zayn is already looking at him. He feels himself flush even redder and quickly looks at the professor.

“Okay, Mr. Malik. Have a seat.” He says and continues his lecture.

The new student nods at him and walks to the back of the room, sitting down and staring at the front of the room.

“As the Banshee is usually…”

Niall sighs and turns his head at the front of the class. There is a picture of a Banshee projected on the wall and Niall starts taking notes.

But then he freezes.

Because right that moment he recognizes the feeling of eyes boring into his back, watching his every move.

Unable to stop himself, he turns around in his seat, immediately locking eyes with Zayn, who is staring at the blond with a smirk on his face.

These speckled golden-brown eyes are giving him the exact same feeling that has not left him alone for three months.

And all Niall can do is gulp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing this on the Belgian University system (sorry if it confuses anyone, but try to just go with it?).   
> Hope you enjoyed :)


	3. Chapter 2 ~ The project

** Chapter 2 ~ The assignment **

**_~September 25, 2017~_ **

Niall can’t seem to rip his eyes away from the new student then. Had it been him, Zayn Malik, who has been spying on Niall for the last three months? Had it been him who whispered his name in the woods?

The smirk is still on his face. He looks relaxed, sitting slumped back in his chair with his arm leaning on the seat next to him. His eyes are still on the blond too, only now, he is taking in every part of Niall he can see, eyes trailing up and down his body until they are staring in each other’s eyes again.  Niall’s face is blank, not quite understanding what is going on at this point. And then Zayn winks at him and red blossoms on Niall’s cheeks again.

Quickly, Niall tears his eyes away from Zayn’s and starts doodling in his notebook, pretending to pay attention. Is Zayn flirting with him already? Probably not. He was probably creeped out because Niall was staring at him.

“Hey?” Harry pokes his side again. When Niall looks at him, he can see the dimples in his cheeks. What is he so happily smiling about?

“What?” He whispers back, trying to act annoyed at how excited Harry is being. He is basically bouncing in his seat with enthusiasm.

“He was flirting with you.” Harry forgets to tone down his voice and the few students sitting around them turn around to glare at them, but Harry doesn’t pay attention to them.

Both Louis and Liam had taken interest in the conversation too and are leaning closer to them so they can hear what is going.

Niall just rolls his eyes. “No, he was not.” He says harshly, keeping his voice down. “I’m not boyfriend material. Besides, he doesn’t even know me.” Niall knows he is not the best looking. Hell, after seeing Zayn he is starting to feel uncomfortable about himself. Zayn is a model. There is no way he would flirt with Niall. Or that is what the blond is convincing himself off.

“Don’t say that, Niall. You are very cute.” Louis speaks up, whisper-yelling so Niall can hear him.

Niall scoffs at that. “Handsome is the word you are looking for, Tommo. Who says he is into boys anyway?”

“He winked at you.” Harry says. “That means something, right? So, talk to him after class, find out if he is into boys.”

Niall doesn’t even consider doing that. Instead, he finds himself wondering how it is possible Harry can smile like that without his cheeks ripping apart. He lets Harry believe in the story he is making up for Niall, but the Irish lad himself is not buying it. He won’t get his hope up only to have them shattered at the end. Besides, Zayn is rather scary and doesn’t look like the type Niall would hang out with normally.

“What are you talking about?” Liam tries to follow the conversation, making Louis smirk and turn to him. Niall knows they will be gossiping about him now. How rude, he is sitting right here.

“The new guy? Zayn?” Louis asks Liam silently and waits till Liam nods, but before Louis can tell him, Harry interrupts him.

“Niall is crushing on him.”

“Oh my God, guys, shut up!” Niall hisses at them, almost certain half the class heard Harry at this point.

Liam frowns at the other side of Louis. “Crushing on him already? What, just based on looks?”

“Well, Lima. He is kinda hot, don’t you think?” Three pairs of eyes suddenly turn to inspect the new student and Niall is very aware of how unsubtle they are doing this. He could sink through the floor out of embarrassment at this point. After a second I can hear Liam hum in agreement. Louis continues then. “And Zayn was checking Niall out. He even winked at him.”

“Niall’s got an admirer.” Harry says with a smirk, making Louis wolf-whistle under his breath.

“I’m never talking to you guys again.” Niall speaks up, not taking his eyes off the PowerPoint about Banshees and Piskies.

"He's looking at you again." Harry whispers into his ear after a minute of silence and Niall didn’t really need him to tell him that. He can feel the new guy staring at him and again his mind starts to drift to the memories he has about that night in June. It can’t be him, can it?

Niall glances at him once more before he can stop himself. It happened almost automatically, like attracted by a magnet. He has never seen the man before, and the city is not that big. Perhaps he just moved here. His accent didn’t sound like it is from around here, but then again, neither does Niall’s.

Zayn's smirk comes back as he sees Niall looking at him again, but this time he is brave and smiles back at him. Not brave enough to wink though. He’s never been good at flirting anyway. He always ends up embarrassing himself.

“So, I thought it would be time for an assignment for you guys.” The words catch Niall’s attention and he frowns. Already? It’s only been a week since the school year started. He hopes it won’t be anything too bad.

“This will be a partnership, so you will be working in duos. I have already paired you up with your partners, so there will be no choice.”

That doesn’t sound too bad. He will get a chance to get to know someone else than his group of closest friends and it will be a great experience. As long as he isn’t paired up with Zayn, Niall is sure everything will go great.

"You will have to write me a paper from around five thousand words about a supernatural creature of your choice. The paper is due in three weeks, so please take this seriously.” Professor Hens then takes out a list and scans his eyes over it. “As for the groups…”

Niall looks around the room as more and more people are paired up with each other. He still hasn’t heard his name. He is praying silently that he will be paired up with one of the nicer people in the room. ‘Not Zayn, not Zayn…’ His brain is repeating it like a mantra.

“Sarah Grey and Gaby Daniels. Peter Forst and Macy Robins. Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.”

It takes a minute for Niall to process the words before a smile lights up his face as he looks over at his best friend who is already giving him a thumbs up. Niall fears that they won’t be doing too much work on this project, but as long as he passes he will be content. He knows this will be a nice project to do.

“So, now everyone is partnered-up, I will be giving you the rest of this session to start working on your project. You will have to finish it at home though.” The professor sits down at his desk after those words and takes his phone. He looks at it with a frown.

Around Niall, students are getting up to get to their partner and sit together in groups of two. Louis scoots closer to Niall until he is sitting right next to him. “Hello, partner.” He bumps his shoulder against Niall’s. “I’m so glad I don’t have to work with any of these other losers.”

“Lou, don’t say that. It’s mean.” Niall scolds him. “So, do you have any idea what creature you want us to do this project on?”

Louis shrugs and shakes his head. “It doesn’t really matter to me. We could go for something cool like dragons or something.”

“Still obsessed with dragons? I thought we went over this last year. Are you still binge watching that Game of Thrones thing? I thought you stopped.”

“You know damn well I didn’t stop, Niall. It’s too good.” Louis hums and grabs the notebook he brought. In big letters, he writes on the page ‘DRAGONS’.

“We didn’t agree on dragons, Lou,” Niall speaks up when his friend starts drawing wings around the words and makes it look like the letters are on fire.

“Yes, we did. Now shut up and brainstorm with me.” Louis doesn’t even look up from the sheet as he says this.

Niall opens his mouth to make another remark on how selfish Louis is being, but stops short when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Immediately Goosebumps spread over his skin and he shivers. Niall already knows who the hand belongs to before he looks up.

“Excuse me.” The voice like molten chocolate speaks up right next to Niall’s ear. “I think you are sitting with the wrong partner.”

Louis and Niall look up at Zayn at the same time in confusion. The hand stays firmly on Niall’s shoulder, but Zayn is looking at Louis with a polite smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“What do you mean, the wrong partner?” Louis asks confused, glancing at Niall with confusion written over his features. “I don’t think I am.”

“I am pretty sure our professor said that I am partnered up with Niall Horan,” Zayn says and looks down at Niall, catching his eyes. “And you are Niall Horan, right?”

Niall can do nothing but nod as he is mesmerized by how extra-terrestrial Zayn’s eyes are. The way he is smiling at him, nothing like the smirk he had given him before.  

“That’s me.” He manages to bring out, but he too is confused. He clearly heard professor Hens say that Louis and he are partnered up together.

"Well, I'm pretty sure prof Hens said Niall is my partner," Louis says and leans back in his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Zayn looks back at Louis, and Niall can swear that he sees a flash of anger in his eyes. They turn hard and cold and Niall shivers again at the sight of that. The hand resting on his shoulder slides to his back and rubs small circles, almost as if trying to assure him?

“Then why don’t we ask professor Hens what he said?” He looks up and calls over the teacher as Louis and Niall switch weird glances with each other. The professor gets up and walks over reluctantly.

“What can I help you with?” He asks once he reaches the three students and it is Zayn who takes the word.

“You said Niall is my partner, but Louis here claims that Niall is his.” He is still glaring at Louis when he speaks.

Niall has never felt more uncomfortable than now and he flinches when he sees the professor’s look of annoyance. “Let me check the list.” He walks back to his desk where he grabs the list before he starts walking back to the three.

Niall looks at Zayn in disbelieve. He is no longer focussing at Louis but on professor Hens. Niall stands up out of his seat and for a second he believes Zayn’s eyes shift colour to a pitch-black. He shakes his head, blaming it on the unnatural lights in the building.

The hand falls off Niall’s back, back to Zayn’s side.

"Here it is." Mr Hensen says as he reaches them again. He looks on the list and then says. "It says that Niall is paired up with Zayn. Louis, you're paired up with Jamie."

Niall’s mouth falls open in shock and Louis stands up too. “Excuse me?” He breaths out and the professor rolls his eyes.

“Don’t act like children. You are twenty-year-olds so just accept whatever pairing I settled with you. Now go back to your work.”

Louis shakes his head and rips the list from the docent’s hands. He checks upon the names and gasps. “I heard you say me and Niall were paired together.” He says fiercely and shows Niall his and Zayn’s name put together, black on white. “You heard it too, right?” Louis looks at Niall with cheer disbelieve.

Professor Hens pulls the list away from Louis’ hands harshly. “Get to work, Mr Tomlinson, before I throw you out of this class.” He then stalks off to his desk again.

Niall looks from Zayn, who is smirking proudly at Louis, to his best friend. He shrugs at him and takes his notebook, following Zayn to the other side of the room.

"Hi, Niall. I'm glad that we are partners." Zayn says and gives the blond another polite smile. Niall shakes his head in disbelieve.

"How did you do that?” He asks, fiddling with his pen.

"Did what?" Zayn asks innocently, sitting down next to him and turning his body so he is facing the blond.

“You changed the names on the paper without him noticing, so how did you do it?” Niall asks again. His hearing is great and he and Louis both know for sure they were paired up together.

"I didn't do that," Zayn says. "I think you just heard the names wrong." His eyes are amused. Like he is laughing at Niall on the inside.

"I'm sure I didn't,” Niall repeats. “but it’s not like your eyes actually did change colour and you magically made them switch, right?” He adds as a joke.

Zayn chuckles and shakes his head. “How I wish I could do that.” He says and another smirk settles on his face as he looks over Niall’s body.

Niall immediately starts feeling bad and shuffles in his seat. “How about we start that project then?”

Zayn hums but shakes his head. “I’d rather get to know you better.” He says and twirls his own pen around his finger. “As to break the ice, you know?”

And why the hell not, Niall thinks. Zayn seems nice enough. “Fine, how do you want to do this?”

“The classic way. Let’s play twenty questions.”

Niall laughs loudly, but nods. “Sure, mate. I’ll start off then.” He watches as Zayn leans back in his seat and casually puts his feet on the desk. He is wearing beaten down black combat boots. “How old are you?”

“I’m twenty-one.” He answers, still twirling the pen between his fingers.

“Twenty.” Niall answers. There is not much of an age difference between them. “It’s your turn then.”

Zayn nods and taps his chin with the pen before posing his question.

“Are you a virgin, Niall?”

Niall then manages to choke on his own spit at the question.

“What the fuck, Zayn?” He says and looks at him shocked. “Can’t you ask a normal question?”

Zayn snickers. "Why would I ask something I already know?”

Niall shakes his head. “No, I’m not, if you must know.” He lies blatantly. Zayn has no business with any of that.

“Liar.”

Niall blushes. “Fuck off, Zayn. Where did you come from anyway? Haven’t seen you around the city before.”

“I just moved here. Moved in with my granny.” He says.

Professor Hens speaks up once again. “Class dismissed.” It sounds like music to Niall’s ears as he quickly throws his stuff in his bag and gets up to go to his friends. Before he can go, however, Zayn grabs onto his wrist.

He stands behind Niall and the latter can feel the warm breath into his neck.

“About the virgin thing,” Zayn whispers in his ear, slowly brushing his lips over the arch. “You won’t be for long.” Then he drops Niall’s wrist and walks past him, out of the classroom.

Niall is left frozen on his spot.

What the fuck just happened?

**Author's Note:**

> This is me rewriting an old one of my fanfics, trying to make it better.   
> Hope you enjoy it :)


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